AFCCE and IEEE BTS Announce Spring 2017 Scholarship Recipients

Ten Students at Nine U.S. Universities Receive Awards Totaling Over $32,000

December 1, 2016 — The Association of Federal Communications Consulting Engineers (AFCCE) and the IEEE Broadcast Technology Society (BTS) announced the award of ten scholarships to students
interested in telecommunications. Scholarship amounts ranged from $750 to $10,000. The Spring 2017 scholarship recipients were:

Shane Cyr, University of Maine
Martin Doczkat, The George Washington University
Dhantha Gunarathna, Drexel University
Mohammad Islam University of Missouri
Elaine Khuu, Virginia Tech
Abdullah Njie, Georgia Tech
Prosanta Paul, Old Dominion University
William Shifflett, Oklahoma State University
Tyler Turcotte, University of Massachusetts
Rafida Zaman, University of Missouri

Martin Doczkat and William Shifflett were the first recipients of the IEEE Broadcast Technology Society/AFCCE Jules Cohen Memorial Scholarships, a new program that awards scholarships of up to $10,000 to promising undergraduate or graduate students studying at accredited U.S. universities, who are planning to pursue a career in broadcast engineering.

Shane Cyr was the recipient of the E. Noel Luddy Scholarship, sponsored by Dielectric Communications (Raymond, Maine). “The Broadcast Technology Society it thrilled that the inaugural Jules Cohen scholarships are being awarded to two such deserving students. We look forward to honoring the memory and work of Jules Cohen by helping develop the students that will lead the evolution of broadcasting into the future.” said Bill Hayes, president, IEEE BTS.

“AFCCE is committed to helping develop engineering talent in radio frequency technologies, including antennas, propagation, transmission, and spectrum management. These scholarships represent our largest ever award to promising students whom we hope will help shape the future of telecommunications,” said Bob Weller, president of AFCCE.

AFCCE has awarded scholarships for over 30 years to both undergraduate and graduate students, based on qualifications, financial need, and number of qualified applicants. Applicants must be enrolled in an engineering or related technical curriculum at an accredited U.S. university and demonstrate a good academic record, and undergraduates must have junior or senior standing.

Evaluated by an AFCCE scholarship committee including IEEE BTS members, Jules Cohen Memorial Scholarship applicants are ranked based on their explicit interest in broadcast engineering as expressed in a personal statement, their academic record, financial need, and relevant extracurricular activities. Applicants for other AFCCE scholarships have slightly different requirements. Applications for Fall 2017 semester will be accepted beginning March 1, 2017 until April. 30, 2017.

More information about the AFCCE Scholarships (including the Jules Cohen Memorial Scholarship) is available at afcce.org/scholarships . Additional information about the IEEE BTS is available at bts.ieee.org/awards.